BlockBefore

Santa Maria, California

29 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1905 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Santa Maria census division. It lies in ZIP code area 93454. The Survey maps it on the Santa Maria quadrangle. 109,707 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 217 feet above sea level.

Santa Maria within Santa Barbara County

Then and now

1905 to 1989

The same ground, surveyed 84 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet of Santa Maria, surveyed 1989
Topographic sheet of Santa Maria, surveyed 1905

On record in Santa Maria

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Santa Maria grew from 99,553 to 109,707 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201099,553
2020109,707+10,154 (+10%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

14 surveys from 29 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

224 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 224 fires within 5 miles of Santa Maria between 1992 and 2020, burning about 181 acres in total. None started naturally. 11 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined142
Equipment and vehicle use37
Misuse of fire by a minor15
Arson/incendiarism11
Debris and open burning9
Smoking7
Recreation and ceremony2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
7 September 2007Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
6 September 2019Misuse of fire by a minorunder an acreSanta Barbara County Fire Departmentnot named
5 September 2008Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
4 September 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
4 September 2008Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
24 September 2004Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSan Luis Obispo UnitRIVER BOTTOM
23 September 1998Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSan Luis Obispo UnitHOLDER PARK

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Santa Barbara County

Mines and quarries near this place

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Santa Maria: 5 producers, 3 past producers, 1 unknown. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Stone, Dimension, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Colson Canyon Pit Number 2StoneProducer
Kolrich PitStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Tepusquet Quarry Number OneStone, DimensionUnknown
Gravel PitsSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitsSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Santa Maria Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Santa Maria Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Santa Maria River PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Santa Maria River PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Santa Barbara County

Storms near this place

4 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Santa Maria in 4 storm reports between 1996 and 2010: 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood, 1 tornado, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
November 2010Flash FloodSanta Maria-Heavy rain produced flash flooding in the community of Santa Maria. A trained weather spotter reported one half inch of rain in 5 minutes. With such intense rainfall, there were numerous reports of significant flooding in the city of Santa Maria.
November 2001Tornado (F0)Santa Maria-A weak tornado struck in the northeast section of the community of Santa Maria. The tornado caused minor damage to three homes, but no one was injured.
November 1998FloodSanta Maria-no account filed
December 1996Thunderstorm WindSanta Maria-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Santa Barbara County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
North Santa Maria0.5 miles29
Midco1.8 miles29
Rosemary2.2 miles29
Pacer3.1 miles29
Rex3.2 miles29
Carr4.3 miles27
Betteravia4.9 miles27
Gum5.1 miles27

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Santa MariaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q643953The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1652791. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.